Calm Before the Storm
by Tardis-in-Hogwarts
Summary: Mystie thought she knew everything about her best friend, Shae. During a summer vacation, she is proven horribly wrong. Join these two friends along with many other campers as they go through trials and tribulations, trying to find out just who they are. Rated T to be safe.
1. Why I Now Hate Summer Vacation

**AN: Hello! This is the first chapter to Calm Before the Storm. Hope you enjoy!**

I walked over to Shae, my aqua duffle bag in one hand and my iPhone in the other. She smiled, not showing her teeth, and casually waved me over to where she was leaning against the wall.

"Hey, Mystie! You ready? My mom will be here in a sec."

I grinned. "Great! Let me just call my aunt and tell her we're leaving. Did you pack everything?"

Shae held up a bulging grey backpack. "That and about a million other things. You never know when there might be a monster attack!"

I nodded seriously and we held each other's gaze. I felt my eye twitch, and the next thing I knew we were laughing hysterically, Shae was doubled over and I was nearly rolling on the floor. It was a running joke between us, because in fourth grade Shae had sprained her ankle, and when I asked how it happened, she smiled and told me a monster did it. Needless to say, we both started laughing, and it had continued to amuse us to this day.

A navy blue minivan pulled up next to us, and Shae and I picked up our bags and climbed in. Shae's mom was in the front, and she handed us each a still warm home made chocolate chip cookie.

"Thanks, Mrs. Mors!" I chirped from the backseat, and her deep brown eyes crinkled as she smiled.

"You're welcome, girls. Do you have all your stuff packed?" she asked.

We nodded, holding up our bags.

"Great! Let's get going!"

Mrs. Mors was Shae's mom, and the closest thing I had to one as well. Don't get me wrong, my aunt and uncle are great, but it's not the same. My mom had passed away during a freak lightning storm when I was three, and I was send to my Aunt Mary and Uncle Jay's house in Albany, New York, clear across the country from my house in Oregon. They were very nice to me, but their main focus was their own children, Jack and Drew, my younger cousins. They were well enough off that they could afford to send me to a private boarding school, and thus I met Shae.

Shae was...different... to say the least. She had slightly wavy raven hair, brushing just past her shoulders, in contrast to her pale skin. She wore shades of grey, and once in a blue moon a bright orange shirt would poke out of the bottem of her midnight black sweatshirt. Her eyes were what marked her as different. They were two opalescent orbs so dark that the color couldn't be defined with words, so deep that you could easily lose yourself in them.

"We'll be there in a few hours, girls. I have some pop-tarts packed if you get hungry." Mrs. Mors' soft, lilting voice shook my from my memory.

Shae had already fallen asleep, so following her example, I leaned on the window and let the tranquil arms of sleep take me away.

-|===== line break =====|-

I was awakened by Shae sneaking over and tickling me spastically.

"What the heck?!" I yelled at her, furious that my oh-so-pleasant dream of winning the lottery had been broken.

Shae's eyes glinted mischeviously. "It was that or a cold bucket of seawater."

I must have looked confused, beacuse she sighed and said, "We're here, dummy. Now grab your bag, and let's go find our rooms!"

I stepped out of the car, and sure enough, there was sand at my feet, and a cool ocean breeze swept through my copper hair. Shae had already gone up to the rental house, which was medium sized and painted a warm coral pink. I ran after her, my flip flops kicking up sand as I went. She stood by the door and waved me over, and when I got there she dramatically threw open the door and stepped through the threshold.

We walked into our house for the week. Across from the door was the stairwell. We ran upstairs, eager to scout out our rooms. I quickly ran to the door on the left and opened it, revealing a turquoise painted bedroom with a view of the ocean. It was a small, peaceful room that had coral fish painted on the wall. there was a bunkbed in the corner,and two small windows. I was about to start unpacking when Shae silently slipped in. I had just taken out my favorite teal hoodie when she tapped my on the shoulder, causing me to jump and throw the hoodie halfway across the room.

"Gotcha!" Shae laughed, and I had no choice but to join in.

"Hey, we should head down to the beach now. The sun's about to set."

I nodded in agreement, and we headed down the stairs and out the door. There was a weathered stone path out in the backyard, and we walked down it to the beach. I kicked off my flip flops and felt the soft sand squish beneath my toes. I rolled up the bottoms of my light blue jeans and ran towards the ocean, stopping when the water was halfway to my knees. Something about the water just gave me a sort of energy. Its cooling currents surrounded me, giving my a feeling of complete and utter safety.

Shae looked at me in the water and said, "I'm going to go get some towels. I'll be right back. Don't drown!"

I laughed, and she sprinted back up the path and was soon out of my sight. There was a faint sound, a dull pulsing noise not unlike thunder, except it came from somewhere on my right. I looked in that direction, and I thought I saw something coming closer. I blinked and shook my head, sure it was just a trick of the light. But when I looked back, the dot had become a vaguely humanoid shape, and steadily closing in. _What the heck _is_ that?_ I asked myself. I glanced towards the house; no Shae. It had been too long of a time, and the thing was coming way too close, and showed no sign of slowing down or stopping.

"Shae?" I called, but there was no answer.

And then it hit me. There was a tremendous roar, and I whirled around to see a huge man grinning creepily at me. But when I looked past his mouth, it got fuzzy, and I couldn't make anything out. I squinted, wondering what was wrong with my sight, and then I saw. He had one massive eye, a dark brown color verging on crimson right in the middle of his head. That was when I screamed.

"Hold on, Mystie!"

I turned in the direction of Shae's voice, and was utterly perplexed. She had a three foot long sword, black as death and it seemed to radiate fear and shadows. The last thing I saw before I fainted was Shae lunging towards the monster, sword poised to strike.

**AN: So, what did you think? Please tell me in a review, it makes my day! To those of you who submitted OCs, they will be added in in the second or third chapter. Shae is my OC, and Mystie is my friend's, who helped me write this. So a big thank you to her! I plan on updating every week, but it might be a little longer. I do have a life outside of Fanfiction, not that I'm gonna tell any of you what that is. (internet safety, people!) Thanks for reading and until next week,**

**cvvphantom217**


	2. In Which I am Completely Baffled

**AN: Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! I am soooooo incredibly sorry for the late update, but I have my reasons. I got a new laptop, had to install Microsoft word, transfer all my documents from the old laptop to this one, convert them from Microsoft Word 2003 to 2010, and I was busy. 'Tis the season, I guess. But to make up for it I made an extra long chapter! My longest ever, 1,957 words! I was wondering whether you guys liked longer chapters but slower updates, or shorter chapters and more frequent updates? Please tell me in a review! I accept constructive criticism, as well as positive reviews, but please be honest and help me improve. Oh, and to all those who submitted OCs, most of them will be appearing sometime next chapter. Happy Reading!**

Chapter Two: In Which I am Completely Baffled

I woke up groggily, no sure exactly what had happened. I opened my eyes blearily, and was met with the sight of Shae attempting to wrap loose ice cubes in a paper towel without dropping any. Needless to say, it wasn't going too well.

"Shae? What the heck happened?" I asked, utterly perplexed as to why I wasn't monster chow.

Shae smiled nervously, "You tripped on a rock on the beach yesterday. You must've hit your head pretty hard, because you were out cold when I got there. We were really worried about you."

I sat up straight, as Shae continued to get the ice cubes to stay in one place.

"I could've sworn there was a monster…" I murmured to myself, too soft for anyone else to hear.

"So what caused you to trip over that rock? It looked pretty big and obvious."

I shrugged. "I can honestly say I don't exactly know. I don't remember there being a rock. And I had this really weird dream…"

Shae looked intrigued, "What happened in the dream?"

"Well, this sounds really weird, but it started right after you left. I hear something, and then there was a vague outline of a vaguely humanoid shape coming towards me. You still weren't back. And that's when things got weird. I turned around, and there was this… _thing_ standing behind me. It was massive and insanely scary. Then you came sprinting towards me with, now this is probably the _craziest_ part, a freaky black sword, ready to kill the monster thingy."

There was a moment of silence before we both burst out laughing.

"Me... Swords… a monster…in _Montauk_… you, my friend… are the weirdest girl I've ever met!" Shae finished, her sentence punctuated with short spurts of giggles.

"I know, right? Crazy. There's absolutely no way that could ever happen. You're too weak to hold a sword!"

I was given a reply via smack on the arm.

"I take it back! I take it back! You aren't weak!" I said, rubbing my now sore arm.

Shae didn't look too repentant, but she gave a lighthearted "sorry" anyway.

"Hey, where's your mom? I figured she'd be all crazy with worry right now. No offense, but she tends to make _way_ too big of a deal about even the smallest of things. Remember when she took you to the emergency room because you fell and scraped your knee?"

Shae nodded. "Yeah. She's on the phone with a doctor in the kitchen, trying to come get him to come over and make sure your brain's alright. Thinks you might have a concussion."

"Well, I did hit my head really hard."

She shrugged. "You've got a hard head, my friend."

I swung my arm at her sluggishly, missing by a good couple of inches. Not that I would have hit her anyways. She's got way better reflexes than anyone I've ever known, especially me.

Just then Shae's mom came into the room, a worried expression written clear as day across her kind face. She saw that I was awake and hurried over to where I was situated.

"Hey, how are you feeling? Everything okay? Do you have a headache; are you dizzy, do you feel nauseous? Anything at all I can get you?

I waved her hand away as she reached to make sure I didn't have a fever. "I'll be fine. Thanks for all your concern and stuff, but I'm pretty sure all that I'm going to have is a bruise."

Mrs. Mors' wasn't completely reassured, but she trusted me enough to tell the truth about how I was feeling.

"Are you sure nothing hurts?"

I shook my head. "I think maybe some Tylenol and some more sleep will be good."

"Well alright then, but if there's anything, and I mean _anything_, just come to me and I'll take you straight to the doctors' office." With that she left the room and it was once again only Shae and I.

"I'll go get you some water and Tylenol, be right back." I watched Shae's retreating form walk through the doorway, and up the stairs. Not two minutes later I had fallen back into a deep sleep.

Two Days Later

After another day of Mrs. Mors obsessing over my well-being, I was finally allowed to go outside on the beach and into the ocean. I woke up earlier than usual, around seven thirty, and dragged a half-asleep Shae downstairs for her mom's infamous blueberry pancakes. By the time we had finished our plates of delicious pancake perfection, I made Shae agree to walk down to the beach with me, me in Caribbean blue and her in charcoal grey.

"You sleep like the dead, you know that?" I told her as we walked along the path.

Shae laughed, saying, "You have no idea how true that is."

I gasped in mock-horror. "You're dead? A ghost come back to haunt me? Oh, woe is me!" I finished with a flourish, waving my arms wildly for dramatic effect."

"You are one weird little person."

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I'm taller than you, you can't call me little!"

With that we looked at each other for a split second, and then raced the rest of the way to the awaiting ocean.

We spent a good few hours on the beach, Shae mostly reading in a chair, and me mostly swimming in the cool salty water. The sun was getting higher and higher in the sky, and we were hungry, having neglected to pack a lunch or even any snacks. So we trudged back up the path to the house, and went inside to find something to eat.

"Foooooood," I moaned as we walked into the kitchen.

Shae mimicked me, only hers was more long and drawn out, "Foooooooooooooooood."

She opened up the fridge and pulled out two slices of leftover pizza from last night, extra cheesy, and put them in the oven to be reheated. While the pizza was being reheated, I went over to the pantry and pulled out a package of Oreos, opening them as I sat down. I was about to take my first bite out of the delicious chocolate cookie when it was so very rudely ripped out of my hands by Shae. She, in turn, popped it in her mouth with a satisfied smirk, and sat down next to me while helping herself to a few more of the Oreos.

"I love these cookies!" Shae said around a mouthful of crumbs.

I nodded in agreement; too busy chewing my own Oreo to answer.

Just as the timer for the oven started counting down the last sixty seconds, Mrs. Mors burst into the kitchen, a slightly panicked expression on her face and her cell phone held limply in her hand. She looked at Shae, saying, "Your cousin Percy called. He said something about Camp and helping out with the new campers. Oh, and there's a, um, _thing_ that needs to be taken care of and Nico is currently occupied."

Shae leaped up, grabbed a cookie, and ran up the stairs, presumably to our room.

"Um, Mrs. Mors?" I asked tentatively.

She looked at me, distracted. "Yes. What is it?"

"Why is Shae leaving for her special camp early?"

Just then said person bounded down the stairs, both our bags thrown over each shoulder. She had pulled her wind swept hair up into a ponytail, and put on dark denim shorts and a faded orange tee shirt over her swimsuit.

"Let's go."

I followed the two into the car, still not sure what exactly was going on here.

"Um, Shae?" I asked in the same manner I had asked her mom only moments before.

"Yeah, what? Did I forget something?"

"Not that I know of. But I was kind of wondering…What the heck is going on here? Who's the Nico person and why do you need to care of something because he isn't there?" My voice had risen considerably as my ramblings went on, and Shae held up her hands in the universal "Calm down" sign.

"I need to go to camp because there are way more new campers this year than there were last year, so I need to help with their orientation, since I know the place like the back of my hand. And as for Nico, he and I have similar…talents…because he's my brother. Well, half-brother really."

I gaped at her in shock. "And you haven't told me, your best friend, that you have a brother… why exactly?"

"Because I didn't think of it. And besides, you never asked."

"I will never speak to you again." I turned away from her and stared out the window, watching the houses fly by.

There was a rustling sound from where Shae was sitting. "But I have a package of Oreos…"

I quickly flipped around, scrambling for the precious cookies.

Shae held them just out of my reach and said, "You're going to have to forgive me before you get any cookies."

I silently cursed my weakness for the cookies. "I forgive you for only just telling me this huge detail of your life. Now give me an Oreo!"

She pretended to think deeply for a moment, but then reached into the package and handed me a sweet, chocolaty cookie.

I fell asleep shortly after eating the cookie, and what seemed like only five seconds later I was awaked by Shae dropping my bag on top of my previously sleeping form.

"C'mon, get up. I need to get to Camp, and you, my friend are coming with me."

She then proceeded to drag me out of the car and onto a dirt road.

"Where's your mom?"

Shae looked back at the car. "She's going back to the beach house. It's an adult free camp. Don't worry, no bad stuff or anything, the counselors are pretty responsible."

We continued along the path for a good fifteen minutes, and then Shae turned off it and onto the grassy hills surrounding it. Seeing my confusion, she pointed at a hill in the distance.

"You see that big pine tree on top of that hill? That's where the camp entrance is."

I was confused. "So no roads leading to it? No way to get there besides walking over hilly fields of grass?"

"Yup" Shae replied, popping the "p".

_A little, no make that a lot weird_, I thought to myself as we walked over the rolling hills.

It took a shorter amount of time than I had expected, but at last we were finally nearing the pine tree. When we reached the top Shae spread out her arms and gestured to the field below.

"And there, lies my camp."

I was completely and utterly confused. There were a whole bunch of cabin type things all bunched up, but each one was had a completely different theme and shape. There was a big field of some sort, and a big three story house sitting next to it. There seemed to be a dining pavilion, with big marble columns and no visible roof. To one side there was woods, with a river running through it, which flowed into the ocean off in the distance.

But the weirdest sight to me was the kids running around in orange tee shirts. They were everywhere, doing a multitude of crazy things, such as riding winged horses, climbing a rock wall that shot lava at you, and battling each other with swords, spears, and shields wearing bronze armor that glinted gold in the sunlight.

"What is this place?" I asked, a little bit overwhelmed by the sight before my eyes.

Shae only smiled knowingly. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

**AN: I hoped you liked it and Merry Christmas!**


	3. I Meet the Family

**AN: Hi everybody! Okay, so I'm going to do longer chapters and slower updates! You know how my last chapter was my longest, almost 2,000? Well this one is 4,078! So sorry for the long wait, but this is huge! **

**For all those who submitted OCs, I have included six of them in this chapter! I need you guys to tell me if I portrayed them right. They were picked mostly random, but personality did kind of come into play. To those who aren't in this chapter, I'm sorry. I just can't put twelve demigods into one chapter without it sounding rushed, but they will be coming. I also need you guys to PM me and tell me if it's okay to make your OC evil or something. I have a couple ideas, and may or may not need evil demigods. If you do say okay, I won't tell you if they will be, because then it would ruin the surprise!**

**Thanks for reading and please review! They give me inspiration!**

Chapter Three: I Meet the Family

_Previously on Calm Before the Storm__:_ _But the weirdest sight to me was the kids running around in orange tee shirts. They were everywhere, doing a multitude of crazy things, such as riding winged horses, climbing a rock wall that shot lava at you, and battling each other with swords, spears, and shields wearing bronze armor that glinted gold in the sunlight._

"_What is this place?" I asked, a little bit overwhelmed by the sight before my eyes._

_Shae only smiled knowingly. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."_

I gazed down at the valley below, my jumbled thoughts bouncing around wildly in my head. I turned my head to look at Shae, but she was already halfway down the hill.

She turned to face me, an ecstatic expression clearly painted across her pale face. "C'mon, don't you want to meet my family? And yours come to think of it."

Shae continued to wend her way down the hill, and I scrambled after her, not wanting to lose the only familiar thing in this strange new place. I caught up to her, slightly out of breath. Okay, a lot out of breath. It's not my fault my complete and utter lack of coordination prevents me from playing sports. And little miss perfect over here looks like she just drank a whole lot of super caffeinated coffee.

We walked up to the huge house and Shae led us around the porch. There was a table set up with some sort of game on it. Sitting at the table was a pudgy man with curly black hair. He wore a horrendous tiger print shirt and held a diet coke in one hand. He turned towards us, and I caught of glimpse of what I thought to be madness swirling in his dark eyes.

"What is it you want now?" he said with an annoyed sigh.

"Um, I got an IM saying that you needed help with the orientation of some new campers. Oh, and something about Nico not being here so you needed me…?"

The man snorted. "_I_ do not need you. These little brats should learn to deal with things on their own! Never the less, I suppose your timing could be considered good. There are a few Hellhounds down by the lake. Your brother is not here to send them back, and Chiron is insisting that we do not harm them. If you ask me they should be dispatched, they'll reform eventually…"

The man trailed of, still muttering under his breath about stupid kids and might have been speaking another language at some points. I opened my mouth, ready to ask this guy just who did he think he was being all high and mighty, when I felt Shae's firm grip on my arm as she dragged me away, the beginnings of my unspoken question still lingering in the air.

"What are you doing? That guy had such an attitude! Who does he think he is?" I asked outraged as we kept walking.

Shae sighed. "I'll explain after, but he isn't one to mess with. Trust me."

I started to tell her to explain it to me now but she continued on.

"Right now I have some really important business to attend to, so you just… stay put. Don't talk to anybody, don't move, I'll be back. Capiche?"

I nodded. "Capiche."

"Good." And with that, Shae ran off in the direction of the lake.

_ this _ is_ a _ line _ break _

Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Like, you'll turn around to see ScoobyDoo-esque yellow eyes staring at you? I've read about it and seen it in movies and on television, but this is the first time I've actually felt it. And it is not a pleasant feeling, I tell you.

So I did what all the people in movies do; I turned around.

What I saw was not what I was expecting. There was a girl, probably around my age wearing a orange tee shirt of the same kind as Shae's, her auburn hair pulled into a tight ponytail swishing behind her as she ran towards me. Behind her there was another girl with lightly tanned skin and hair the color of wheat. As she came closer I realized that she was chasing the other girl, and why exactly she was chasing her. The girl with blonde hair was covered from head to toe in crudely cut out cardboard flames glued onto a white shirt and light denim shorts.

While I had been observing the two girls I had failed to notice that they were coming closer, and so I was caught completely off-guard when the auburn haired girl crashed into me.

I fell down onto the hard packed dirt and grass while the other girl scrambled to get off me.

"Sorry, I figured you'd be smart enough to move. Guess not. Hi my name's Delaney, but you can call me Dellie, Laney, DeeDee, or Delay. Whichever you prefer. What's your name? Oh and don't mind Ottie, she's just a bit unsettled about a little tiny prank I pulled." She finished with a broad smile, as well as a bit out of breath.

"Oh, I'm, um, Misty. Wha-?" And for the second time that day I got acquainted with the ground.

"OMG, I'm so sorry! I'm Charlotte. I just kind of figured you'd move. Say, are you a new camper? Whose your parent? I'm Apollo, and this numbskull over here is Hermes."

Needless to say I was very confused. "Um, what? I just got here with my friend, Shae. She just told me to wait here." I finished uncertainly.

Delany and Charlotte looked at each other, and began talking fervently.

"Who do you think she is?"

"Can't be mortal, she's here."

"She looks kind of old to just be brought here now. They wouldn't send out Shae to get her if she was never going to be claimed."

"Ooh, maybe they're sisters!"

At that point they glanced at me, and then went back into their conversation.

"Can't be. They look nothing alike."

"Shae doesn't really look like Nico. I mean, he's all tannish and she's pale, and he's got brown eyes. Dark, but still."

"Ten bucks says she's Hermes, Athena, or Apollo."

"You're on. Besides, she's not Athena. Doesn't have that _I know everything there is to know_ look on her face."

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Delaney and Charlotte's conversation came to a halt.

"You want to give the new girl an orientation she won't forget?" Delaney asked Charlotte.

The blonde haired girl grinned and replied, "Hades yeah!"

And with that the two campers each took one of my arms and led me in the direction of the lake.

_ this _ i line _ break _

**Shae's Point Of View**

I ran towards the lake, hoping that Mystie would take my advice for once and actually stay there. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my brain that told me that that wouldn't be the case, but I was used to ignoring my common sense. According to most other people I didn't have any at all (thanks, mom!).

As I approached the crystalline blue lake, I saw around a dozen or so campers decked out in full armor, brandishing various forms of weaponry. They seemed to be attempting to keep the three ebony dogs the size of a baby rhinoceros in one place. Needless to say it wasn't working very well.

The smallest one (still huge, mind you) was jumping around, trying to get around the wall of demigods. The other two were running around, knocking over kids like bowling pins.

I jogged over to the group and looked for the leader of this attack. I found him, a 17 year old Ares kid named Isaac. His longish brown hair was tied back, and was trying to maintain order in the midst of all the chaos.

"Um, hi. Mr. D sent me over here to, ah, take care of everything. Can you tell the others to stop for a second?" I rushed to the end of my little explanation. I _really_ hated talking in front of people I didn't know all too well. I was definitely not a leader in any sense of the word.

He whipped around, his intense blue eyes showing full concentration. "Hey. Shae, right? We were just trying to keep them situated until Nico got here. You have any idea when he's coming?"

I gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, here's the thing. Nico isn't really reachable right now. Believe me, I would much rather him be here to do it."

Isaac looked at me in confusion. "Then who's going to do it? You don't have any other siblings, right?"

"Ah, no. I'm going to do it." I tried my best to sound confident and stand up taller than my measly four foot eleven and a half.

He suppressed a laugh. "Sure thing, squirt. I'll tell them to stop for a second, and send someone to get an Apollo kid and some nectar and ambrosia. You're definitely going to need it, those three are giant psycho bundles of dog slobber!"

I nodded weakly, and Isaac turned back to his struggling group and told them in a loud voice that the Hellhounds' transportation was here.

I quickly ran towards the three hyper dogs and called out to them in a falsely exited voice.

"Hey, guys! Who wants to go see mommy? Want to go see Mrs. O'Leary? Yeah you do! C'mon, let's go home!"

I braced myself for impact as the three monster dogs came bounding towards me. They reached me all at the same time. _Holy Hera!_ I thought right before I willed them back to the Underworld, and they disappeared in a burst of shadowy darkness, leaving me to stumble back and sit down hard on the wet ground.

My head hurt, and I could feel a migraine coming on. The world spun in circles, and I could almost make out a person running towards me, something in each hand.

She took something out of a plastic baggie and told me to eat it, so I raised my hand and took it, greedily popping the delicious food into my mouth. It had the texture of pudding, but tasted j like a warm blueberry muffin from my favorite café.

The dizziness started to subside, and I was handed a canteen, which I opened and drank from. This one tasted of my aunt's infamous strawberry banana smoothie.

I laid down, feeling much better, and watched as the world came into focus. There was a blonde girl with crystal blue eyes placing her hand on my forehead, and I assumed she was a healer from the Apollo cabin. A few seconds later and I felt like I had just drank liquid sugar and I stood up to make sure I hadn't accidentally sent anyone with the Hellhounds. A quick head count told me I was good, and I counted a few extras. There was the Apollo girl, another girl who I had seen at camp before named Delaney, and with her I saw… Mystie?

I stormed over to her, ready to berate her for being an idiot and not staying where I told her to, when I saw the look of clear confusion and something that resembled a mix of fear and awe in her face.

I decided to yell at her anyways. "Why didn't you stay where I told you to? I was going to tell you everything all nice and slow, get you introduced to camp, but noooo, you had to go right to the place where I specifically did NOT want you to be at this particular time! You, you…!" I trailed off when I saw that she was trying- and failing- to suppress her laugh.

"And what, exactly, is so funny?" I asked. I could practically feel the steam coming out of my ears.

Mystie grinned. "You have dog slobber all over you!"

I punched her lightly on the shoulder, by which she returned the favor, albeit a bit harder.

"C'mon, I'm going to go take a quick shower and then show you the ropes around here. Can't have you running around and getting killed, now can I? My mom would kill me and I'd rather live a longish life, wouldn't you?" I told her.

She nodded. "Wait, what do you mean by kill?"

I tugged on her shirt. "Just follow me, will you?"

_ this _ i line _ break _

I got out of the shower and pulled on my orange Camp Half-Blood tee, dark denim shorts, and my old pair of black and grey converse. I walked over to where I left Mystie, and she was thankfully still there. I was half expecting her to be stuck on the rock wall or tangled in the volleyball nets. Mystie was probably the most uncoordinated person I knew. Some basic training should fix that, but she was an expert klutz, so I wasn't sure if she was trainable.

"Hey," I said to her, and she looked up from her phone. "I have to go find the other new campers who just arrived today and I'll give you guys the grand tour and everything."

Mystie nodded, getting up. "Sure thing. But do you know if there's any Wi-Fi around here, there's this story I'm reading on fanfiction and it's supposed to be updated today."

I rolled my eyes. "A dur, of course there is! You'll have to ask the Hermes kids though. And they have to like you. Or you can hack it, but only a few kids have managed it. Now get your butt up so those newbies don't have to wait any longer."

We made our way over to the Big House, where all the new campers would be waiting. I had been here for as long as I can remember, and after tagging along with Percy and Annabeth's tours, they told me I could do it over the summer. The only time I don't freeze up around people is when I don't know them, which is why I could sort of do the tours without stuttering. Most of the time, anyways.

I walked up the stairs and through the front door into the main room, Mystie trailing behind me. The first thing I noticed was how little of them there were. Usually we got anywhere form ten to twenty campers in the beginning of the summer. All I saw were three girls, two on the couch, and one in the chair.

There was a girl with black eyes who looked to be around thirteen or so, with dark brown hair and full bangs. She wore a white Aeropostale tee shirt with light denim shorts and a yin necklace.

Sitting next to her on the couch was a girl, who looked to be a bit older with wavy light brown hair and bright green cat-like eyes. Grey Nikes were on her feet, and she also wore a white tee shirt and olive green cargo pants. _A little too hot for summer on Long Island, don't ya think_? I thought. It was, like, eighty degrees out! I really hoped she packed some shorts…

The third girl sat in the chair, and was probably around sixteen years old, older than most people who came to camp. She had very aristocratic features, and long wavy chestnut hair. Her grey eyes were a trait of Athena kids, but she didn't have that look about her. She was dressed in a very simplistic manner, but suggested she knew that what she wore was perfect for her.

I smiled, but I think it might have looked more like a strained grimace. "Hey, guys! I'm Shae! I'm going to be running the orientation. Is there anyone else, maybe in the bathroom or something?"

The girl with green eyes shrugged. "Not that I know of. Are there supposed to be more of us?"

"Um, no. I guess this is fine." I reached into my bag which I had grabbed before showering and took out a few Sharpies and a stack of Hello, My Name Is _ stickers. I gave them to everybody, including Mystie. "You have to write your first name, last name, and nickname if you'd like."

They did so silently, and when they were done I looked at all of them.

The black eyed girl was named Anne Foxxe, the green eyed girl was Luna Parker, and the aristocratic girl was Madeline 'Maddie' Channing. When I looked at Mystie to make sure she hadn't stuck it on her forehead or something I started laughing hysterically.

"Really, Mystie? You never told me your real name was Mildred! How'd you even get Mystie from that?"

She quickly scribbled out the Mildred part, her face turning red. "I'm just so used to writing that on tests and stuff I forgot…"

She stuck it on her shirt, and I motioned for everyone to stand up. "C'mon, it's time for the tour! Normally there'd be a movie, but I can pretty much recite it from memory and I don't feel like watching it again. My first question is this: Do any of you guys know Greek mythology?" I tried to sound enthusiastic.

Luna raised her hand. I smiled. "School's out, there's no need to raise your hand."

She looked kind of put off.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make it clear that school is out, so nobody has to go and be all serious. This is summer!"

Luna nodded. "Um, I do. Well, sort of. I already met someone I think. She was at this place called R.O.F.L., and she told me everything would be explained then made this giant rainbow thing and I appeared here. I was told to wait here. Was she like a wizard person, like from Harry Potter?"

I laughed. "No, of course not. Harry Potter isn't in this universe! No, who you met was Iris, Greek goddess of rainbows."

It was safe to say the room was dead silent. The first to break the silence was Anne.

"So the goat dude wasn't crazy?"

"Nope," I replied. "You see, the Greek gods weren't just myths made up to explain science. They're here, and still the same as always, well mostly."

I told them everything about being a demigod, and I was fairly certain that none of them were skeptics. Except maybe Mystie. I was kind of worried about her; she hadn't said a thing since I started talking. I looked over at her once I was done, and she had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Um, hello? Earth to Mystie?" I asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Yeah," she blinked, startled. "I was just thinking. If the Greek gods are real, any they're our parents, why aren't we up on a cloud partying and being all powerful and immortal?"

I face palmed at her stupidity. "Haven't you read any of the Greek mythology books that I lent you? Even skimmed one?"

Mystie gave me a blank expression, which I took as a 'No'. "Well, you're not immortal. And your power depends on your parent. Like Athena kids are really smart, and children of Apollo are good healers, etc."

She looked at me, and asked the question that the other girls had no doubt been thinking.

"So, who's your parent? The goddess of Oreos?" She snickered.

My face heated up. "No, actually there is no Oreo god. Trust me I would practically worship him. Or her."

Maddie spoke for the first time. "Are you going to answer her question? I know how to avoid a question, and I'll teach you if you want. But that was an epic fail."

Luna, Mystie and Anne nodded in agreement. "Fine. My dad's Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Happy?" I could feel the shadows rising up behind me, and I quickly sent them back, like Nico taught me too.

They nodded, a bit taken aback. I pulled my enthusiastic face again, and pretended that the last few minutes hadn't happened. "So, how about that tour?"

I walked out of the Big House, and I could hear their footsteps behind me. And with that my oh so fabulous tour began.

_ this _ is _ a_ line _ break _

"And this will be the last stop on the tour. Please follow me as we enter the dining pavilion." I said in my most tour guide-y voice.

"See, everyone has a table for their cabin. Apollo over here, Hecate over there, and back over that way is Ares. This is where we eat every meal, and after dinner we roast s'mores after dinner." I pointed to the huge pit where the bonfire would be tonight.

I reached into my bag and pulled out four bags of potato chips, and threw one to each of them.

"Isn't it almost dinner time?" Asked Anne, looking at her watch.

"Yeah," I answered. "That's why we have to be quick. You have to burn a portion of your dinner as a tribute to the gods. They like the smell, trust me on that. Now you're just going to throw a few chips into the fire, and hopefully your mom or dad will claim you. Who wants to go first?"

They all looked at me like I was crazy. "Fine, I'll pick. Luna, you go first."

She stepped up and opened her bag, closed her eyes, and threw a few chips into the flames. Suddenly a flash of light flared up over her head, and an image of a brightly colored rainbow appeared.

"Whoa!" I heard her and the others gasp. I smiled, that was one of the fasted claimings I had ever seen.

I went up to her as the picture faded. "Congratz, Luna! Your mom is Iris, Goddess of Rainbows! You know, I was thinking that when you told me how you got here, but I wasn't completely sure. Lucky you, you already met your mom! Most people don't ever meet their parents. It's a shame, really… Who wants to go next?"

Luna was beaming as she stepped back. Anne threw her chips in next.

Nothing happened at first, and I could tell that she was disappointed. As she walked back towards us set of scales appeared above her head, the symbol of Nemesis.

Anne looked up, exited, and looked to me to tell her whose child she was.

"Nemesis," I said. "Goddess of revenge, balance, and vengeance."

Maddie walked over and threw three chips in, and an image of a golden palm branch appeared.

"The symbol of Nike, the goddess of victory." She smiled and high fived Anne and Luna's hands.

"Let's go Mystie. We only have five minutes." I shoved her towards the fire, and she nervously put her hand in the bag and tossed some chips out. Mystie smiled, looking relived that nothing freakishly weird had appeared, but her smile faded as nothing happened.

Three minutes later and still nothing had happened. Hungry campers in orange tee shirts began filing in. I told Mystie to wait there while I went to introduce Anne, Maddie and Luna to their siblings. I came was just walking back from the Nemesis table when I saw a bright light flash by where I left Mystie. I pushed through the crowd, waiting to see the look on her face when I told her that her dad was Poseidon Ruler of the Sea, and my cousin.

When I finally reached her I stopped dead in my tracks. Above her head was a spinning picture of wheat, the symbol of Demeter.

She looked at me, clearly exited to be claimed.

The image disappeared and I was pulled out of shock.

"_WHAT!?"_

**AN: Good? Bad? What did you think? I would say give me ideas in a review, but I already spent a few hours making an outline for this. It looks to be around 17 to 20 chapters, with updates every three weeks, give or take a little. **

**How was Shae's Point of View? Which do you like better, Mystie or Shae? Are they still too mary-sue-ish? I'm trying to fix that. **

**Oh and I am changing my penname again soon, if you have any cool names please leave it in a review :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**:)**


	4. The Beginning

**AN: Before you all start bombarding me with angry yelling, I'd like you to hear my apology: I am sorry. I am so truly, deeply, sorry for not updating this. There's this thing called life, and its really been messed up as of late. I've been so busy its not even funny, not to mention the million or so problems that are all just in my head that I have to deal with. Yes, there are more specific reasons for not updating this, and once I almost stopped writing it for good. My point being, though there have been many bumps in the road, and there are bound to be many more, I will NOT give up. I really feel awful for my way too long of an absence, but no one can change the past, so let's all just move on.**

**I just want to thank all the support I've gotten for this. You guys motivated me to write this Author's Note and continue this story. **

**And wait just a moment before getting too excited. Yes, there is a chapter here. Not a full one though. Don't yell, I'll post the rest in a few weeks. I just felt like giving you a teaser for the next chapter. It's only the very beginning and will be much longer than this.**

**Happy Reading!**

Looking back on it, I must have appeared like I had just been frozen by Medusa; shocked and petrified, a stone statue in almost every respect. I probably had a marble like complexion too, come to think of it. After my shout of confusion had ended, I think I was making these weird sorts of half strangled noises, judging by the looks on the faces of the people surrounding me.

Mystie's expression of joy faded into one of bewilderment, and a bit of hurt shone in her eyes. It must have seemed as though I didn't want her claimed, or didn't like her mom.

I walked over to where she stood, saying, "Hey. I'm sorry about the, um-"

"Scream of outrage?" Mystie supplied, raising her eyebrow.

I grimaced guiltily, "I guess I was just surprised about your mom. I really didn't expect that. At _all_."

"Who is my parent anyways? And don't tell me I should have paid attention to your long, random rants about ancient history," Thunder boomed at the last part, and some of the campers looked up at the sky with worried expressions.

"Well," I said. "Your mother is Demeter, the goddess of agriculture."

Puzzlement crossed across Mystie's face, as she looked at me and asked, "But my mom died, and I never knew my dad. Shouldn't my godly parent be my dad?"

I paused for a second, thinking. "It could be entirely possible that you were adopted and your mom didn't tell you because you were so young. As for your dad, there's no way of telling who or where he is, unless you ask Demeter herself. And things are… complicated, to say the least."

Her face was blank, so I couldn't tell what was going on in her mind. A few seconds later she grinned and said, "So what kind of cool powers do I have? Can I control the earth and stuff?"

Mystie's grin was from ear to ear, with her eyes wide open, it was actually kind of scary. And trust me, I don't do scared.

I grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the dining pavilion, talking slowly like one would to a small child. "I can't really say for certain, but I'm sure that your siblings will tell you everything. Now come on, let's go meet them."

HELLOOOOOO I AM A LINE BREAK AND I LIKE PIE!

The Demeter cabin was teeming with life, literally. Various kinds of climbing plants scaled the brown walls, and the roof was made of lush green grass. From the roof cherry red tomatoes dripped down on green vines, and the smell of freshly cut grass and flowers surrounded the cabin. There were a few campers tending to the flowers in the flowerboxes outside the windows, though most of Demeter's kids spent a lot of time in the strawberry fields.

I led Mystie up to it, a kind of awestruck expression painted across her face. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the counselor, Aimee Flora, walking towards her cabin.

"Hey, Aimee! I have a new camper!" I said loudly, and she smiled and walked over to where we were standing.

"Hi, Shae! Is this her? 'Cause I've never seen her before. Hey, I'm Aimee Flora, what's your name?"

Mystie looked slightly overwhelmed by Aimee's eager smile and overexcited tone, so I gave her a nudge, though maybe a bit more forceful than was necessary.

"Um, I'm Mystie. I, uh, just got claimed."

Aimee nodded understandingly, beckoning us to follow her into the vibrant cabin. The floor was composed of a grass of different sorts than the one on the roof. It was a bit warmer inside than outside, and the windows had glass like a greenhouse.

We were led over to an empty bed in the back left corner. It was built like a bunk bed, but from looking at the other beds the space on top acted as a miniature garden. The older girl gestured to it, saying "This will be your own personal space. Feel free to plant any flowers or herbs or whatnot on top. There are a few drawers underneath it where you can store your clothes and things."

Mystie slowly walked over to it, and then promptly dived onto the soft green covers.

"Oooh, I love this color!" Her muffled voice came up from the bed. She sat up, and a look of uneasiness crossed her face. "What about my stuff, like if somebody takes it or something?"

Aimee started laughing well naturedly. "Don't worry! We are family, remember? The only placed you'd have to worry about that would be around some of the Hermes kids, and everyone isn't allowed to enter any cabin aside from their own."

I stepped back a little, and cast my eyes slightly downward, feeling more than a bit guilty at the moment. Mystie and Aimee saw this, and Aimee quickly amended her previous statement.

"It's okay now, Shae, everyone will be cool with it. I'm sure your cabin will be repaired soon."

A few weekends ago I had shadow travelled here to practice with Nico, because he had been visiting for a few days. He was showing me how to conjure Hellfire, and it got way out of hand and the Hades cabin was in shambles within seconds. Nico got us out relatively quick, but that didn't mean we came out unscathed. A little bit of ambrosia, nectar, and sleep had fixed us up. I had been sleeping in the last empty bunk in the Hermes cabin, but a new camper had come in my absence and I could either sleep in the Big House or if some of the campers let me stay in their cabin. I would be staying in the Apollo cabin tonight.

"I'll, uh, just go now. I need to go practice my knife throwing." I said, turning and leaving Aimee and Mystie to plant stuff or whatever.

"Hey, wait up! I want to come to!" I looked over my shoulder, and there was Mystie, sprinting to catch up with me. It's not my fault I'm a fast walker. It's the darn three minutes in between classes at school's doing.

"Fine. Just stay out of my way. I'm teaching a class in half an hour. If you can find your own set of knives, and at least some basic armor, you're welcome to join us." With that I walked into the armory.

**AN: Sorry its so short, but remember: its only the beginning. Sorry again for my disappearance, and I'm afraid I'm going to do it again, but this time I'll only be gone for a few weeks. **

**So see you guys a in like two or three weeks!**

**-MousyBeana**

**P.S. keep in mind that this has not been edited (or even read over by my beta or myself) so don't get all picky on my grammar. Thanks :)**


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